It’s been two weeks since Hurricane Maria tore through the Caribbean, causing destruction to many islands. Few were as adversely affected as the U.S. commonwealth of Puerto Rico, where we continue to hear stories about homes destroyed, roads washed away, and widespread power and communications outages.

In an effort to provide some relief for Puerto Rican families with students attending colleges and universities in Florida, Gov. Rick Scott asked all public institutions to offer in-state tuition to these students. FAU didn’t hesitate to respond.

The university is waiving out-of-state tuition fees for this academic year for current students whose permanent address is in Puerto Rico. These students will now pay in-state tuition rates. We hope that this alleviates some of the stress facing our Puerto Rican students and their families, who are dealing with so many other challenges.

We continue to keep everyone affected by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria in our thoughts. If you are interested in contributing to relief efforts, please click here for more information.